Blossom
by Snowl
Summary: For the ageless inhabitants of the Tower, Enne Jahad's life was a mere flicker in history. Her meteoric rise to fame remembered only in context of her sudden fall from grace. This is her story.


**BLOSSOM**

A Talse Uzer Story

CHAPTER ONE

THE MAID AND HER MISTRESS

_You have just reached the summit of the Tower. Take a moment to recall how you got to this point. For centuries, you overcame challenge after challenge. You climbed up mountains and swam across oceans. You fenced with swordmasters and wrestled with giants. You fought terrifying monsters and walked through fields of death. Where others gave up, you persevered. Where others perished, you survived. After all the blood, sweat, and tears, you are now a Ranker. Congratulations!_

_There are many ways to celebrate your newfound status: party, travel, relaxation. In fact, I suggest you do a bit of each. But after the initial lustre wears off you will find yourself asking, "now what?" Now you find a job._

—Morgan Stern, "So you're a Ranker, now what?"

* * *

Enne lay in bed half asleep, faintly aware of the sounds around her. A sharp knock, her daily wake-up call, jolted her awake. "I'm up! I'm up!" she shouted. She began to roll out of bed but stopped halfway and buried her face in her pillow. In its soft embrace she relaxed, her breathing slowed, and she fell back asleep.

* * *

Maria set the last dish on the table and nodded in satisfaction at a job well done. _Now comes the hard part_, she sighed. It had been years since she had first been employed by the prominent Euresia family, years since she had a sliver of hope one of them would have the self sufficiency to get out of bed by themself—after their wake-up call. As quickly as her long legs would take her, she strode out the dining hall, past scores of rooms, up a handful of staircases, and into the living quarters.

When she arrived in front of Enne's room, she knocked, just to be polite, and entered the room. She was not surprised to find the young mistress sound asleep, snugly tucked into her blankets. The girl looked so comfortable Maria was almost tempted to let her lay there, almost tempted to crawl into bed with her. Almost.

Maria walked over to the curtains and pulled them open, letting the sunlight bathe the room in its warm glow. "Rise and shine," she said. That might have been enough to wake some people but Enne had inherited her mother's gift and simply cuddled closer to her pillow. Not to be deterred, Maria walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off the girl with a quick tug. She was shocked speechless when Enne rolled over, one arm outstretched and her stomach exposed. That was the greatest response she ever got out of the girl. _Was this progress?_ She quickly discarded the notion, it wouldn't do to be too positive about these things. _Nothing left to do_, she lamented, and kicked the girl out of bed.

Enne awoke with a thud. Her bum was sore and her head ached. She turned and glared daggers at her assailant who shrugged apologetically. Enne gritted her teeth, Maria was incorrigible. But Enne quickly calmed herself down before she could say anything damaging; the last time she had complained about abusive maids, she had found herself dumped in a bathtub filled with cold water the following morning. "You know, children need twelve hours of sleep," Enne said, picking herself up off the ground and dusting herself off.

"And you slept fourteen," Maria said, not looking impressed in the least.

_Pocket, visible mode_, Enne commanded mentally. A spherical object materialized to her left, clearly displaying "10:03". Fourteen hours sharp then, not that she would let that would stop her. "But it might have taken me three hours to fall asleep!" she exclaimed.

"Even though it took you all of five seconds to fall back asleep after shouting, 'I'm up! I'm up!'?"

Enne raised an eyebrow and mouthed, "five seconds?" Maria nodded, pointing towards the doorway, where Enne could see a glowing purple cube floating near the ceiling. _A lighthouse? She was spying on me?_ Enne was scandalized, Maria was playing dirty today. She had to win the argument now. "Especially because I did so. If I'd gotten my twelve hours of sleep I wouldn't have needed a minute more."

A grin escaped from Maria's lips. "Did you spend three restless hours last night coming up with that?"

Enne pouted and glared at Maria who glared back. It lasted a heartbeat before the two girls went into stitches.

Maria regained her composure first and walked towards the dresser. "Your hair's a mess. Come, sit," she said, patting the stool. An inventory filled with hairbrushes of all shapes and sizes materialized to her right, which she casually purused before picking one.

Enne sat down obediently, her legs flailing away in impatience. "Tell me about the Tower," she asked. Enne loved hearing about the Tower, she couldn't wait to climb. Soon, she told herself. Soon she would be able to get away from her parents, they were always fighting recently. Whenever father was home that was, he spent most of his time on his research nowadays. Enne didn't blame him, mother was becoming unbearable. Every girl in the Tower wanted to become a Princess and she actually had the chance to be one. Why was her mother so against it?

Maria's voice cut into her thoughts. "There's nothing I haven't told you a hundred times before. It's just as they say, you can find anything at the top of the Tower: wealth, power, fame, even a job as a maid."

Enne sighed contentedly as Maria brushed her hair. Maria was an excellent maid, which was why her mother always employed Rankers even for the most menial of tasks, they were the best of the best. "A job as my maid, don't sell the position short," Enne said.

"Yes, yes," Maria replied. "No one short of a Ranker could possibly hope to wake the great Euresia Enne."

Enne ignored Maria's barb. "Tell me about the time you met the twin Princesses," she insisted.

"Garam and Yuram?" Maria asked.

Enne nodded in response.

"Again?"

"Again."

"Fine, but breakfast comes first," Maria said, putting her brush away. She walked out the room with Enne close on her heels.

* * *

_Eating in the Euresia household is awkward at the best of times_, Maria thought. The dining hall was enormous and the table could seat thirty. Not for the first time Maria wondered why Enne's mother, Blossom, bothered purchasing such a large house when she rarely entertained guests. But Enne seemed content sitting alone on one end of the table and that was what mattered.

Despite some misgivings she loved her job and wouldn't trade it for the Tower. If someone had told she would enjoy being a maid, even if it was for one of the Ten Great Families, she would have laughed at them. But Enne was a joy to teach and the girl had become her life in recent years.

Breaking protocol, Maria took a seat next to Enne. One of her lighthouses popped into existence above the dishes and she put up a picture of the twin Princesses on one of the screens. She saw Enne look up in anticipation and smirked. The subject of Jahad's Princesses always got Enne's attention and Maria didn't see the harm in it. Well, as long as Blossom didn't find out she didn't see the harm in it. With a practiced ease she launched herself into her narrative.

"The story begins on the 50th floor. I had just passed the 49th floor test and was a step away from becoming a D-rank Regular. At the time, I thought I was the greatest there ever was. I thought I was destined to leave my own mark on the Tower and that my name would go down in legend.

"I had all the confidence in the world. That was until I met them."


End file.
